There is a great song on Christian radio by Matthew West called “The God Who Stays”. The words of the song say:
You’re the God who stays
You’re the one who runs in my direction.
When the whole world walks away,
You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms,
And tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart from the God who stays.
Life is so interesting. When life gets tough and difficult, there are only a few people who stay with us until the very end. Recently, I experienced the death of my friend, Fr. Jack. He had a challenging and difficult time the last few weeks of his life. In the end, it was close family and friends who stayed with him. That is how God is; He stays with us. It does not matter if it is jail, illness, death, humiliation, courtroom, unemployment, our own fault — it doesn’t matter. HE IS IN!
Coming to understand this truth about God is very personal for me. When so many ran away from me – God stayed! What a gift to know this amazing God!
Our world is hurting. Life has changed. We are isolated from each other, the economy is in the tank, illness surrounds us, and fear has become a companion. And where is God? HE IS IN! He stays right with us; He doesn’t leave our world, our home or our hearts.
Henri Nouwen wrote:
The mystery of God’s love is not that our pain is taken away, but that God first wants to share that pain with us. Out of this divine solidarity comes new life. Jesus’ being moved in the center of his being by human pain is indeed a movement toward new life. God is our God, the God of the living. In the divine womb of God, life is always born again. The truly good news is that God is not a distant God, a God to be feared and avoided, a God of revenge, but a God who is moved by our pains and participates in the fullness of the human struggle.
I am so grateful God loves us so deeply, He doesn’t leave us. He is right in there with us in the here and now. We don’t know much about tomorrow or even May 2020, but we do know this. Our God is the God who stays! He is not going anywhere!
Much love and many blessings,
Fr. Dale